Music-sheet for mechanical musical instruments



(No Model.)

R. M. HUNTER. MUSIC SHEET POR MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Patented May I6, 1893.

5o the reeds.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH M HUNTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MUSIC-SHEET FOR MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

.SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 497,323, dated May 16,1893.

Applioationfiled February 8, 1893. Serial No. 461,433. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement inMusic-Sheets for Mechanical Musical Instruments, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention has reference to music sheets for mechanical musicalinstruments, and consists of certain improvements which are fully setforth in the following specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawings which form a part thereof.

This application has particular reference to music sheets provided withperforations for controlling mechanical devices which govern the musicemitted from a mechanical musical instrument; and more particularly myinvention relates to an improvement upon the music sheet set out inLetters Patent No. 452,203, dated May l2, 1891. The constructionillustrated in the said Letters Patent is one in which a long sheet ofpaper is provided with suitable perforations and having a zig zag orsinuous line or mark extending throughout its length to indicate theloud and soft expressions to be followed `by the operator of theinstrument, and also having one edge provided With time marks orcharacters indicative of the speed at which the playing should be done.The said music sheet which is especially adapted to zeolians is soarranged that the zig zag or sinuous line is made upon the face of themusic sheet and directly above the perforations corresponding to thenotes which are to be played loud or soft in accord- 'ance with theindications of the said zig zag or sinuous lines. Furthermore, thecharacters or words indicative of the speed are also placed exactly inline with the perforations corresponding to the said change of speed. Inusing instruments of this kind I have found that great difficulty isexperienced in that the sinuous or zig zag line, and also the charactersor words upon the face of the music sheet cannot be convenientlyobserved as they are located so far within the instrument, a positionwhich is necessary to make them correspond with the channel box whichcontrols An exceedingly bright light must be thrown into the instrumentor said lines and characters or words cannot be readily followed. Thisdifficulty also distracts the attention of the operator from themanipulation of the stops. I have also found that the use of said papersheets, passing as they do from front to back in horizontal manner,confuses the operator owing to the fact that he is looking obliquelyalong the paper, and further is compelled to observe the said lines andmarks when the sheet is spread out and the perforations show blackapertures rapidly moving in front of the eyes. So annoying has this beenfound by me-that after playing for a short time the optic nerves havebeen so strained that headache often arises.

My invention is designed to entirely overcome the defects of the musicsheets' heretofore employed in eolians and similar classes ofinstruments while at the same time maintaining their advantages.

In carrying out my invention, I mark the Zig zag or sinuous line andspeed words or characters on the back or under side of the sheet andarrange the portions of the line or mark or character at a distance inthe rear of the perforations corresponding to the said expression lineor mark or character substantially equal to a distance between thechannel box and the front of the forward roller upon which the music isnormally wound, and from which it is unwound in operating theinstrument. By this construction the said expression marks, words, orcharacters are brought directly in front of the eyes of the operator,and furthermore are shown positively upon a face of uniform tint as noperforations are perceptible in looking upon the roll of paper upon thecylinder. There are, therefore, no dazzling effects due to the blackspots formed by the perforations in passing over space.

It is evident that if the paper is wound from the rear cylinder onto thefront cylinder, then, in that case, the expression line, and words orcharacters will be arranged in advance of the correspondingperforations. It is also to be borne in mind that while in practice thepaper is normally wound upon the cylinders with the face inward andtherefore my expression marks are preferably upon the back, the papermay be wound upon the cylinders IOO in the reverse direction so that theface appears upon the outside, in which case my expression line, andwords or characters will then appear upon the face at the rear or inadvance of the corresponding perforations.

I have found in practice that my improved music sheet is more readilyfollowed as to expression and time, may be observed by the smallest orlargest person without the least inconvenience or straining of positionwhile operating the aeolian, and is exceedingly restful to the eyes,since it avoids all that is apt to dazzle or confuse the vision.

Referring to the drawings: Figure l is a sectional elevationillustrating the relative arrangement of the various parts of anzeolian, and the location of the music sheet therein. Fig. 2 is a planview of a portion of my improved music sheet; and Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a roll of music before being inserted in themachine.

A isa case of the organ, and is provided with a compartment B, intowhich the music sheet is placed, and in which location it may beobserved through the opening C in the front of the case.

D is the channel box through which the air currents pass which controlthe operations of the reeds, the said channel box being located in thecompartment B at a distance from the front.

'lhe music sheet H is a long narrow strip of paper having a series ofperforations l of different lengths and locations as is very clearlyindicated in Fig. 2. This sheet is secured at one end to a cylinder Eabout which it is nor mally wrapped. Thefree end of the sheet isprovided with a ring S which is hooked upon a cylinder F within theinstrument and upon which it is wound by mechanical appliances. Thepaper in being drawn from the cylinder E upon the cylinder F is causedto travel over the openings in the channel box D.

In operating the instrument with the paper as before constructed, it wasnecessary for the operator to sit well up so that the eyes may lookthrough the opening C over the revolving cylinder E down upon the paperbetween the cylinders E and F upon a transverse line directly above thechannel bar D. Unless a very strong light was thrown into thiscoinpartment it was almost impossible to observe the expression line,words or characters, and as the apertures appeared black in passingbetween the cylinders E and F they confused the eyes in reading the darkcolored expression line.

Vith my improvement the above difficulties are entirely obviated, for itis only necessary in the use of my improved paper to observe the use ofthe expression mark as it appears upon the face or front side of thecylinderE while the paper is being unwound, as is very clearly indicatedin Fig. 3. The observer may readily follow this line in poor lightwithout the least inconvenience to his position or attention inoperating the stops. This improvement will permit almost any location ofthe zeolian in the house, which was not possible before.

Referring to Fig. 2, the expression line G, which may be printed in theform of dots, dashes, or, it' desired, a continuous line either in coloror black, is made Zig zag or sinuous and extending from side to side orlaterally with respect to the paper sheet Il in exact accordance withthe corresponding variations in loudness and softness required inplaying. The point J in the expression line G corresponds to theperforations at J, but is at a distance in the rear of said perforationscorresponding to the distance between the channel box D and the front ofthe cylinder F.. Likewise the points K', L', and M' of the expressionline G correspond to the perforations K, L,and M of the music sheet, andall are equally or substantially equally to the rear. For very correctmarking of the sheet it will be found that as the distance between theperforations in the channel box D and the front of the cylinder E willslightly decrease as the paper is unwound from the cylinder E upon thecylinder F, a corresponding difference will be made in marking thesheet, and this may be done automatically in thc machine which I havedevised for the purpose as it is self compensating for such changes.Ordinarily, however, this difference is not material. The speed or timemarks or words are also similarly in advance of the correspondingperforations of the music sheet.

It is quite evident that my invention is not limited to the mechanicalapplication in the use of this paper, but is broadly to a perforatedpaper for mechanical musical instrument which has expression marks orlines upon its face or back, any point or portion of which correspondsto perforations in the sheet of paper, either in advance or to the rearof said portions of the expression marks or lines.

Having now described iny invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. As a new article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet providedwith a line extending longitudinally but deviating in azig zag orsinuous manner laterally from side to side for the purpose ofindicating` how loud or soft the playing should be at differentintervals, the said line having any point or portion of its lengthlocated ata distance in advance or to the rear of the corresponding per*forations.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet providedwith a line extending longitudinally but deviating in a zig zag orsinuous manner laterally from side to side for the purpose of indicatinghow loud or soft the playing should be at different intervals, the saidline being arranged upon the rear of the sheet and having any point orIOO IIO

. sheet in advance or to the rear of the corresponding perforations.

4. As a new article ot' manufacture, a perforated music sheet providedwith an expression line extending longitudinally but deviating in a zigzag or sinuous manner laterally from side to side for the purpose ofindicating how loud or soft the playing should be at differentintervals, and also provided with Words or characters indicative of thespeed at which the playing should be done, said Words or charactersbeing arranged upon the back of the sheet and in advance or to the rearof the corresponding perforations.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet providedwith a line extending longitudinally but deviating in a zig zag orsinuous manner laterally from side to side for the purpose of indicatinghow loud or soft the playing should be at different intervals, the saidline having any point or portion of its length located at a distance inadvance or to the rear of the corresponding perforations, and With Wordsor characters indicative of the speed at which the playing should bedone arranged upon the sheet in advance or to the rear of thecorresponding perforations.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet providedwith a line extending longitudinally but deviating in a zig zag orsinnous manner laterally from side to side for the purpose of indicatinghow loud or soft the playing should be at diiierent intervals, the saidline being arranged upon the rear of the sheet and having any point orportion of its length located at a distance in advance or to the rear ofthe corresponding perforations, and having Words or charactersindicative of the speed at which the playing should be done alsosimilarly arranged upon the back of the sheet and in advance or to therear of the corresponding perforations.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand.

R. M. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, H. L. MOTHERWELL.

